


Emotional Spelunking

by KatenBlue



Category: Robot Series - Isaac Asimov
Genre: Androids, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Psychology, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29308101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatenBlue/pseuds/KatenBlue
Summary: Sometimes people's thoughts can be so complicated and confusing that it might seem you're going further into a depth of a cave, which has no end. Daneel began to study Elijah's thoughts. And Elijah is interested in how far Daneel can go.
Relationships: Elijah Baley/R. Daneel Olivaw
Comments: 6
Kudos: 4





	Emotional Spelunking

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the song and the video of the group Savlonic - Spelunker.

The flow of fresh air was blowing from an ionizer. Elijah was standing in front of picture windows, looking at the scenery. He still suffered from agoraphobia, but once or twice a day, he forced himself to look outside the room to finally overcome his fear. Daneel didn't like this practice but understood it was helpful for Elijah. 

It was free from any investigation time. A small piece of it, which Elijah easily devoted to other thoughts. But not about crimes. He was thinking about his strange feelings. Elijah hardly accepted himself and his connection to Daneel. To feel an attraction to a robot - it seemed to be madness! That's why he thought for a long time that he's just crazy. 

Daneel appeared in Elijah's room as quietly as Elijah felt his need to be with him, not giving attention to some facts. At the corner of his eye, Elijah saw Daneel's figure and turn around to him. 

“It seems to be a night right now. Why don't you sle-”. Elijah felt embarrassed and was ready to slap his forehead but stopped himself. “I forgot you don't need sleep. Why they gave you a whole bedroom?” 

“Are you insisting on the shared bedroom?” Daneel asked without any allusion to mocking. Elijah almost blushed, feeling shame. 

“Nothing like that!” Elijah turned back to the window, not wanting Daneel saw his embarrassment. “It just was so pointless to make an entire bedroom for a robot, who doesn't need to eat or to sleep. There can live, I swear, a big family in such room on the Earth, but here...” Elijah lost his thought when Daneel got closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder. 

“I purely can understand your indignation. But we are not on the Earth, and also everyone is sure I am a human, so I was given human rights. May I ask you to step back from the window?” Daneel carefully led Elijah to a bed and fastly made some hand movement. When Elijah sat, he understood that all windows became opaque. 

“Why did you come? You couldn't know I'm not sleeping.” 

“House robots notified me about your doings.” 

“Why would they suddenly let you know what I'm doing?” Elijah got a little angry, emphasizing the word ‘you’. 

“I ordered them to do it. Your well-being is important for solving crimes.”

Baley, confused, ignored the second sentence. 

“You? An order?” he asked. 

“I have human rights on this planet, so I surely can give orders to the robots.”

Nothing changed on Daneel's face when he said it. 

That's it - the triumph of technology! A robot is giving orders to other robots, Baley thought. It was hard for him not to smirk. 

“Lack of sleep is bad for the human body...” Daneel began, but Elijah interrupted him with irritation. 

“I can't sleep because my mind is full of various thoughts. And all you can do about it is to talk to me.” 

“But, to continue the investigation, you need to keep yourself healthy...” 

“I won't sleep even if you'd gone, so your bickering doesn't make any sense. Would you talk to me or not?” 

“We are already doing it.” 

Elijah made a dissatisfied face. 

“I don't want to argue with you. I have more important threads to talk about.” 

Then Baley frowned, so he looked earnest and strict. It made Daneel tense. 

“Is something disturbing you?” he asked tenderly, sitting closer to Elijah. 

“Do you feel what word or sentence should cause certain emotion?” Elijah asked in response, looking deeply into Daneel's blue eyes. 

“Yes, mostly if I understood you correctly.” 

“Well, for example, right now, when we were arguing, could you know what emotion would be caused by your words?” Elijah seemed to be in very strong mental tense. 

“In your case, I spoke not about you'd liked to hear but about you'd needed to hear. I suggested that you became irritated, but it was necessary.” 

I doubt I needed to hear a boring monologue on my own health topic, Elijah thought. 

“How do you know what a person needs?” 

Daneel didn't find this ironic. 

“From the point of view of physiology...” 

“Fine, fine, I got it. I don't want to listen to a thirty-minutes long speech about sleep's benefits.” 

His overprotection is starting to annoy me. If it wasn't Daneel, I've already told such a ‘worried about my health’ robot to get out, Baley thought. And that thought rushed through Elijah's mind because then it was replaced by another and more tempting. Baley started thinking of how the robot's mind worked and stared at Daneel's face. Daneel also was looking at Elijah, slightly leaned his head to the right. Maybe it means that he's deeply in his thoughts, Elijah supposed. 

_Robots' minds reminded long, spacious, and symmetrical, but anyway, crowded corridors, in which thought were walking in formation, in straight lines, and always with the same speed. A plastered ceiling, a smooth, polished surface underfoot, walls paralleled to each other. Everything in the robot's mind was planned, clearly defined, and verified. A robot could react to all circumstances, actions, or expressions with incredible quickness. And it was happening thanks to his complicated algorithm in the head, invented by engineers._

_Humans' minds at the same time seemed to look like a jungle or rather a dark cave, in the depth of which could be found a treasure or an inner demon. People's such “caves” didn't look alike in the opposite of robots' “corridors”. Every “cave” differed from others, opened the owner's secrets, showed his true self. It was needed to become an emotional spelunker to start a so-called journey through humans' minds._

Daneel tirelessly stared at Elijah, but Baley didn't tolerate such a gaze and distracted the robot by taking his hands into his own. 

“You still haven't answered the question. Why did you come?” Elijah looked like he saw the world for the first time. Baley, with strange curiosity, was looking at Daneel's palms. 

“I came to convince you to go to sleep.” 

“Oh, if only I could turn off my head at nights, I would sleep and moreover sleep for a long time. But my thoughts are a stream of high density that can be neither stopped nor weakened. I think you know yourself what the word ‘overload’ means. I'm ‘overloaded’, speaking your language, Daneel.”

Elijah touched the robot's fingers several times, playing with his palm like a child. But then he felt embarrassed because of his own curiosity and carefully let his hands, afraid looking into Daneel's eyes. 

_It was an inviting, deep, and large space of a human’s mind. Daneel already could see stalactites and stalagmites at the entrance. He had a headlamp with good luminosity, and it helped him see the cave's depth without even going in. How many secrets and riddles were hiding in this person? How many secrets and mysteries were hiding in all humanity with their huge caves?_

_Daneel stepped on the rocks of foreign for him terrain. If he continues the way, it will be darker than at the entrance. But Daneel has never felt human fear, so he stepped forward. The sound of his steps echoed from stoned walls. If Daneel had been human, his walking might be described as "confident". But Daneel was just walking, knowing that his own mind was telling him to do it. He carefully touched stalagmite nearby. His artificial fingers were contacting with the given by nature beauty of the human brain._

“When you said ‘overload’, I understood your feelings as never. But is there really no way to release? After all, even my brain can ‘unload’.”

Daneel sat so close to Elijah that Baley had to lean away from him. When Daneel saw it, he began closing to Elijah with more force. Elijah had to lay on his back. 

“I thought it would be nice to talk with you, but I'm afraid our conversation is...” Elijah nervously swallowed, looking at Daneel hovering over him. “So strange. Did you want to convince me to go sleep such a way?” Baley tried to smirk but was confused because of Daneel's stare. 

_Daneel was going further. It seemed like the cave didn't have an end, and the darkness became a part of the artificial robot's skin. The android was surprised that there was a path in the cave, and it was wide enough even to walk in a group. But the furtherer Daneel was going, the harder was becoming the way and the narrower the path. He concluded: he was reaching places which saw no one before him. Maybe there was someone, but, in that case, he left everything in its original form, carefully crawling into small spaces. Daneel decided to do the same, trying not to disturb the unfamiliar natural balance._

“Not exactly. You may find it strange too, but I'm interested in watching you and analyzing your reaction to my actions. The words, as I see, do not affect you so much.”

Daneel pulled back and then sat down next to Elijah. Baley continued to lay for some reason. Maybe Spacers' bed seemed too soft for him. Elijah sighed in relief when Daneel stopped hovering over him. He fixed his eyes on the robot's face, who was looking at the opaque window. 

“Maybe you'll relax if I start to whisper?” Daneel smoothly moved closer to Elijah and lowered his head to Baley's face. Elijah was strangely blinking in confusion and tried to push the robot back. Nothing worked. The android didn't move at all. 

_Baley understood that while he was walking through spacious and numerous corridors, he didn’t notice he was going further. Elijah thought the walls wouldn’t differ but was wrong. Here and there, on the straight walls, he could see some paintings, or beside them was standing a closet. It seemed to Elijah surprising, so he looked into one of them with pleasure._

_On the shelves of the closet stood large in the height and width volumes of various sciences. Elijah understood from the titles there was physics, with all branches, biology and even sociology. Then he found a clean, without any signs of using, shelf with a couple of small books and surprised. Of course, Elijah didn’t know any science so well to understand much, but he knew the main terms of many, so it wasn’t too hard for him to realize what kind of books he saw. None of them had a title, but he flipped through them and understood that all books were related to psychology._

_Baley found it strange but thought that it could be useful in particular moments._

“Actually, I think it’s more tensing than relaxing,” Elijah also started to whisper. 

“You made a rather inaccurate statement. Do you feel tension because the whisper is unpleasant for you or, vice versa, **too** satisfying?” Daneel clearly emphasized the word “too”. 

“The whisper heightens my senses. I’m starting to feel something I shouldn’t feel for you.” 

“You’re avoiding answering my question. And it’s not like you. What are you hiding?” Daneel was persistent as never but started to talk with a regular volume. Baley put both hands on the robot's chest, pushing him away from yourself. But Daneel grabbed his wrists and didn’t let him go. Elijah tried to move his hands, but nothing worked. 

“Do you know what you’re doing, right?” Baley ignored the previous question. 

“Yes, I do. And I want to understand why your behavior is so strange.” 

“But aren’t you acting weird too? What are you trying to find out?” 

“I’m doing so based on your reactions. It became obvious to me that if I act like this, I would be able to learn much more about you,” Daneel spread Elijah’s hands and got closer to his face. They were such close that there was nothing hard for Baley to lift his head to touch the robot. “You can stop me with your order. You can tell me not to hold you, and you know I wouldn’t. But you don’t do it. Why?” 

“Because it’s **too** pleasant for me to dare to stop you,” Elijah helplessly whispered. He realized he could no longer hide the truth. 

_To his own surprise, Daneel found a small lake with crystal clear water. Like in the mirror, he saw stalactites hanging from the ceiling of the cave in reflection. Cautiously he climbed down to the lake and touched the cold water with his hand. By moving his fingers, Daneel made some ripples and started to watch them spreading through the water._

Elijah realized he could no more control his feelings. He hid it too way long, not only from yourself but also from Daneel. It was too hard for Baley to keep it a secret, so he couldn’t restrain. Elijah slightly lifted and kissed Daneel on the lips, didn’t carry about what would be next. 

_From somewhere small stone fell nearby Daneel, causing some waves on the water. If Daneel had been a human, he would have flinched, but he just traced the stone’s trajectory and was about to go away. But Daneel found out another path behind the lake. Maybe there was someone before him. He had a choice: to go further behind the lake or go back to his previous route._

***

Their clothes were lying on the floor, mixing into a single whole. The low light filled all the room, and the air around a bed was heated. A glass in the window became more opaque and didn’t show even a speck of dust from one or another side. 

Elijah was rhythmically breathing, hotly exhaling on the white shoulders of Daneel. Daneel softly took Elijah’s hand in his palm, slightly squeezing. Baley was kissing smooth skin without any flaw on the artificial shoulders of the robot. He didn’t feel cold under his lips because something was warming the pseudo-human body of Daneel. 

_The path turned out long. But Daneel didn’t regret he went through the way behind the lake. Landscapes he’d seen were impressive even for him. Daneel didn’t have imagination, but he had perfect memory. So, this journey could be recalled at any time of his existence. The sceneries in the cave, built naturally, looked for Daneel fancifully, breathtaking, not like everything made by humans. That’s why he liked to go further._

Elijah didn’t want to think that inside Daneel were only a large number of wires and metals. Baley had no wish to admit, but for him, even if only in thoughts, Daneel was a human. The pedantic and earnest human who liked to speak a little bit straightforwardly. 

They stopped talking at all, full of sensations. Daneel, not used to show feelings, didn’t know what to do, so mostly Elijah was leading him. Kiss by kiss, they were studying each other like never before. 

_Step by step, Elijah was walking through the corridor, touching the walls with his hands. Step by step, Daneel was walking through the cave, touching natural underground wealth with his artificial hands. They were moving in an unfamiliar way but weren’t feeling fear, only curiosity. How far could Elijah go through this strange corridor, where he saw vague, blurred pictures with human figures full of passion? How far could Daneel go through this strange cave way, where he saw standing and hanging stalactites and stalagmites of odd form?_

Elijah wanted to remember this sense of calm and tenderness forever. He finally got over the stream of his thoughts. Nothing was bothering or disturbing him anymore. 

Daneel’s hand was slipping Elijah’s body, going down below his stomach. Elijah quietly gasped and reached out Daneel’s face. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other like magnets. A shiver of pleasure went over Elijah’s body when he deepened the kiss, and Daneel immediately reacted. Daneel didn’t give Elijah to lose in thought, and then after a French kiss, there was a neck kiss. 

Baley let himself run his hands through Daneel’s hair, which turned out soft and smooth. Elijah’s fingers were studying his strands. Then Elijah roughly gripped them when Daneel touched his erect cock through the underwear. Baley instinctively moved his hips and moaned, and Daneel stopped to kiss him. 

Daneel’s red, slightly tousled hair nicely fell on his forehead in straight strands. Baley looked at him with such love, so he completely forgot who are they and what they were doing. Elijah used to see his ideally arranged hair, but now Daneel showed up in front of him like _this_. Someone could have thought Daneel is a human if he had had a hard breath or sweat on a temple. 

*** 

Elijah’s hand was slightly gripping Daneel’s shoulder. Daneel was staring at Baley, whose face was expressing slight tiredness. Elijah opened his eyes, feeling the stare. 

“Don’t stop,” he said it quietly after a long time of silence. 

If Elijah had known later that Daneel automatically counted his every moan or nervous breath, he would have laughed. But at that moment, he didn’t care about anything at all. Only Daneel was important, therefore everything he did. 

_Elijah reached a large mirror, which size was of the whole wall. Daneel reached a stone wall, which was blocking the far way. They both got at the dead end. The only way was only to go back. Anyway, everything they faced was exciting. They both wished their roads continue but were grateful even for that experience._

*** 

The picture windows came clear again. It was raining outside, and the drops were going down to the hard ground. Elijah was nervously shivering while listening to this water beat and was hard trying not to cuddle Daneel in fear. Even though they both were inside and the rain could not harm Elijah, Baley was still suffering from the fear of heavy rain. 

After some time, there was thunder, which made Elijah shuddered and turned away from the window in horror. Daneel immediately reacted to Elijah’s expected behavior and carefully hugged him. He noticed Baley was shivering under his palms. 

“We are safe. Nothing threatens us,” Daneel said quietly. 

“I know...” Elijah whispered. 

Daneel didn’t let Elijah go from embracing and made a little movement with his hand. After that, the sound of rain could no longer be heard, even though the rain itself didn’t stop. Baley saw the drops were still falling from the sky. 

“Would I hear the thunder if I had slept?” Elijah asked. 

“No. The window would automatically get opaque, and the room would become soundproof.” 

Elijah quieted down a little, listening to his own breath. He would gladly get closer to Daneel and hear his heartbeat, but then he considered it was a too romantic and mindless dream. He pulled away from the android. 

“I feel better. Thank you for turning on the sound isolation.” 

Elijah was silent for some time, looking at the rain, and then suddenly turned to Daneel. 

“But, anyway, do you know what, for example, ‘sadness’ means?” Elijah asked with sudden curiosity. 

“Yes, I do, but I don’t sure if my feelings can equal to humans.” 

“I’m sure that it can, at least partially. Did you feel sad when you had to say goodbye to someone?” Elijah lowered his voice a little and looking at his hands. 

“Do a farewell with someone bothers you?” 

“With you.” 

_Daneel saw how little rocks started to fall from the ceiling of the cave. It was a sure sign of possibly soon collapse. He chaotically began to think about what he should do to avoid the rockfall or, at least, not to be a victim of it._

“I’m sorry you had to get through such emotions. I cannot compare it to my own feelings. Nevertheless, while we have even a drop of time in eternity, I think it’s essential to use it as much as possible.”

Daneel got closer to Elijah, carefully taking his hands into his own palms. Elijah looked up at him, eyes full of overwhelming sadness. 

“Maybe, you’re right. But I can’t handle my emotions anyway. It pains me even to imagine our farewell. Who knows, maybe, we’ll meet in a couple of years, but, maybe, we’ll never meet.”

At the last words, Elijah started to whisper. And he let himself put his head on Daneel’s shoulder. He was hiding his face with tears in his eyes this way. 

_The first stalactite fell almost near Daneel. Strange noise sounded somewhere in the depth of the cave. It heard like the roar of an unknown animal. The walls looked like they were about to tumble. Daneel didn’t stop to look up at the ceiling and walked the way, leading out of the cave. It slowly started to collapse. There was dust in the air, but, gladly, Daneel didn’t need to breathe to live._

“Please, don’t distress yourself with these thoughts. Let’s use the time given to us to enjoy each other’s company. Will it be better if I hug you?” Daneel carefully took Elijah’s face in his palms, making Baley look up at him. Embarrassed, Elijah looked away and slightly nodded. 

_The chaotic collapse of the cave suddenly stopped. Daneel glanced at the ceiling. Nothing was collapsing. Everything was fine. The dust settled, and Daneel carefully turned back to the darkness to glance at the depth last time. He couldn’t continue his exploration. There was a chance that someday he would have the opportunity to do what he started. But now he had to return. What else would be hidden from him because of possible cave collapse?_

“This is what you called ‘sadness’?” Daneel asked, softly cuddling Elijah. 

“Yes,” Elijah whispered. 

*** 

Still, Daneel distracted Elijah from his disturbing thoughts about the future. Even it was hard a little, but Daneel had at least a rough idea about how to talk with Elijah to make him feel better. 

_There was a light ahead, and it was natural light, not from Daneel’s flashlight. Everything in the cave was calm, even, the roar of an unknown animal quickly stopped when Daneel moved some distance away from the sound. Did he regret that he was a spelunker for the first time in his existence? Of course, the answer was ‘no’, at least because Daneel experienced no human emotions._

_At the exit of the cave, Daneel would be blinded by daylight. But his artificial eyes quickly adapted, so he didn’t feel any serious changes. There were a lot of things ahead, which he had no time to explore. His way continued in any case._

Elijah had fallen asleep, and for that, Daneel came at first. His task was to calm Baley, even though he didn’t know how to achieve it. Before Daneel leave, he looked behind him and made sure everything was alright. Elijah’s face was peaceful and was expressing sweet release from overwhelming thoughts. 

And even though there was not much time until the morning, it was Elijah’s most healthy and deep sleep in many years. 


End file.
